Ag Research And An Old Movie To Consider Watching

If you like Science fiction, you may have watched “Soylent Green,” a 1971 movie starring Charlton Heston. It concerns an overpopulated world of the future in which many people subsist on a processed food known as soylent green. I won’t give away the ending; let’s just say it’s memorable.

In the roughly 40 years since the movie came out, the world has done a wonderful job of increasing food production. Much of the credit goes to agricultural researchers who have developed better plant varieties and food production systems.

But the researchers’ work isn’t over; far from it. The world’s food needs are expected to double by 2050, and much more progress is needed. So it’s troubling that a lot of smart people say the world isn’t investing enough in ag research.

Read my cover story on the subject in the Jan. 21 issue of Agweek.

And if you like science fiction and haven’t see it already already, consider watching “Soylent Green” on one of these cold winter evenings. See if you can figure out the ending in advance.

The movie, of course, is fiction; the concern over funding for ag research is all too real.

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ABOUT

My name is Jonathan Knutson.

I'm a North Dakota farm kid who has spent my career reporting on agriculture and business. I'm a member of North American Agricultural Journalists and currently lead our Midwest region, our biggest in terms of membership.
The photo of the "KNUTSON RD" sign was taken on my family farm. Like me, the sign has been around many years. And like me, the sign, though worn at the edges, is still hanging in there.